Thursday, April 7, 2016

Today the first teaser trailer was released and it's something spectacular!

Obviously it's just a tease of a few scenes from the movie and there's plenty more to come, but this trailer coming only a few months after The Force Awakens' release, the timeline and setting for Rogue One may be a little confusing.

Here's a few questions you may have after watching the trailer. If you have more questions feel free to share them in the comments below!

Is this the sequel to The Force Awakens? Where's Rey, Finn or BB-8?

No. This movie is set between Episodes 3 and 4, shortly before Episode 4. These are the rebels learning about the FIRST Death Star. Luke, Leia and Han haven't met yet and Rey an Finn are years away from being born. BB-8 has probably not yet been made.

Episode 8 (no title yet for The Force Awakens' sequel) is still filming and will come out December 2017.

Rogue One is actually very close to the same time that Star Wars: Rebels happens. It's certainly possible there will be some connections there.

Why am I wearing an Imperial uniform? Wait and see!

Who is the main woman?
After watching the trailer you know exactly as much as anyone else does. She's mysterious and tough and her name is Jyn Erso. She's played by actress Felicity Jones who typically performs in dramatic films (the ones grown-ups like) but you may have seen her in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.Where's Darth Vader?
It hasn't been confirmed either way if Vader will be in Rogue One, but he could be. At this point in the overall Star Wars story, Darth Vader is alive and terrifying the galaxy. For that matter, we could also see Emperor Palpatine, Grand Moff Tarkin and more familiar baddies!

Who are all these other guys?
We really don't know at this point. We know they look tough and ready to fight. Hopefully they're good guys! Other than that it's all a mystery.

Is that the same lady from Return of the Jedi? The super-serious one?
Yep. Younger actress, but same character: Mon Mothma. She's a strong leader in the Rebellion and it's great to see her again after all these years!

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Why is Unkar Plutt so grouchy? Who are those two guys that
Finn almost leaves with? Who’s that little guy waiting behind Rey in Niima
Outpost? A new middle-grade book from Disney-Lucasfilm Press gives us a much
closer look at many of the interesting-looking new alien characters from The
Force Awakens.

Somehow this collection of short stories got the longest title
of any book in recent memory. The full title is: Star Wars: Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away ALIENS Volume I (we’ll just call it
ALIENS Vol. I for short here). The inclusion of “Volume I” is interesting and suggests
more to come, hopefully soon!

In 346 pages, author Landry Q. Walker gives us six stories
focusing on six different alien characters. Each tale also has a great painting
by Tyler Scarlet. Two of the stories are brand new while the other four have been available only as eBooks until this hardcover release.

One of the eBook editions

The stories vary in length, tone and genre. Walker really
has fun jumping around from Unkar Plutt’s cyber-romance/heist thriller to a
crime story/cooking show in Maz Kanata’s castle. Swashbuckling pirates and even
mad scientists are all a part of the fun. Crime and criminals is the focus
here in this collection of “scum and villainy”. There are a lot of “no-good,
double-crossing swindlers” here, as Lando Calrissian might put it.

The stories are not connected at all so they can be enjoyed
in any order. They seem to take place before the events of The Force Awakens as Niima Outpost and Maz Kananta’s castle are
still intact.

The invisible Constable Zuvio

Unfortunately the first story is focused on Constable Zuvio,
a character becoming infamous for – despite being made into several toys and
featuring in other books – doesn’t seem to be in The Force Awakens at all unless you have an eagle-eye and can
freeze your Blu-ray at exactly the right moment. It may be of little interest
to read this adventure of a character essentially not in the movie. However
Zuvio’s tale is an engaging detective story with a lot of western feel. Columbo in the wild west…in space.

Yo yo Bobbajo!

For A New Hope
fans, the most intriguing story is Bobbajo’s All Creatures Great and Small – a “tall tale” of his imprisonment
with his tiny creatures, on the first Death Star, coincidentally at the same
time a certain famous Princess meets two men and a wookiee. The story even
suggests that Bobbajo’s creatures played a vital part in the destruction of the
Death Star, though Bobbajo is apparently known for stories that are often
wildly exaggerated.

Also of interest to longtime Star Wars fans – and this appears
to be the first time in the new “canon” (official Star Wars timeline) – is mention of the character of Gormaanda from
the infamously bad 1978 Star Wars Holiday
Special in the story A Recipe for
Death.

Celebrity Chef Gormaanda

ALIENSVol. I ends with the longest and most exciting tale: The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of
Count Dooku, an adventure of piracy and plundering that escalates to a
bigger and bigger clash between rival pirate gangs. The story also has some
wonderful connections to the Clone Wars TV series.

Confident young readers will enjoy the variety of stories
here and insights into characters only briefly seen on screen. Older Star Wars fans
can certainly enjoy these tales too as they are not specifically “children’s”
stories – no more than the rest of Star Wars. One story, The Face of Evil, may be a little scary for very young readers.

With so many other background characters and interesting aliens in The Force Awakens to learn about, this book will leave you looking forward to Aliens Vol. II!